Links for 2012-02-27

  • In the genes, but which ones? | Harvard Gazette

    "It is only in the past 10 or 15 years that we have had the technology for people to do studies that involved picking a particular genetic variant and investigating whether people who score higher on intelligence tests tend to have that genetic variant," said [Union College Psychology Professor] Chabris. "In all of our tests we only found one gene that appeared to be associated with intelligence, and it was a very small effect. This does not mean intelligence does not have a genetic component, it means it's a lot harder to find the particular genes, or the particular genetic variants, that influence the differences in intelligence."

  • A Simple and Convenient Synthesis of Pseudoephedrine From N-Methylamphetamine

    A quick search of several neighborhoods of the UnitedStates revealed that while pseudoephedrine is difficult toobtain, N -methylamphetamine can be procured at almost anytime on short notice and in quantities sufficient for synthesisof useful amounts of the desired material. Moreover,according to government maintained statistics, N -methylmphetamine is becoming an increasingly attractive starting material for pseudoephedrine, as the availability of N -methylmphetamine has remained high while prices have dropped and purity has increased [2]. We present here ac onvenient series of transformations using reagents which can be found in most well stocked organic chemistry laboratories to produce psuedoephedrine from N -methylamphetamine.

  • upuAg.jpg (1024Ã744)

    Once upon a time, there was a racist tree. Seriously, you are going to hate this tree.

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I just finished reading Methland by Nick Reding.
Working on a bunch of paperwork tonight so just a quickie - Ritalin.
I'm suffering through a wretched cold at the moment, which will limit my blogging activity. If you're looking for something to do, though, you might want to check out the Revolutionary Minds blog set up by the Corporate Masters.
You know how graduate students are always complaining that their stipends are small compared to the cost of living? It seems that some graduate students find ways to supplement that income ... ways that aren't always legal.